With Great Grace Comes Great Responsibility

Jeremiah 23:1-6
Colossians 1:11-20

In many churches, Christians profess their faith by reciting the Apostles Creed. The Apostles Creed, as you probably know, is a very ancient statement of our faith. But it is not the most ancient. Probably the earliest profession of faith was very simple with only three words: Jesus Is Lord. That was it. Jesus is Lord. At first blush, the confession that “Jesus is Lord” seems simple enough, after all it’s only three words. But, as we’ll see, it covers a lot of territory. Actually, it covers all the territory.

So, the earliest confession of faith was “Jesus is Lord.” To this day, we still confess that Jesus is Lord. Right? But what does that mean? What are we saying when we confess that Jesus is Lord? Well, at the very least, we’re saying two things. On the one hand, when we say “Jesus is Lord” we mean that he is our Lord. He is the Lord of our lives. In this sense, no one else can claim they are the Lord of my life. So, for instance, I am not the Lord of my life. And likewise, the church is not the Lord of my life. Or again, the government is not the Lord of my life. There is, and can only be, one Lord of my life and that is Jesus Christ. So, in this sense when we say, “Jesus is Lord” we mean he is Lord in relation to ourselves. He is our Lord. But there is another sense that we say “Jesus is Lord” that is not limited to his relation to us.

I was thinking the other day that it has been nearly twenty years since I came to faith in Jesus Christ. Today, by God’s grace, I am able confess that Jesus is my Lord. However, for the sake of argument, let’s assume that I had not come to faith twenty years ago, so that today I would not say that Jesus is my Lord. What would that mean? Would that mean that Jesus was no longer Lord because, according to this hypothetical scenario, I would not confess him as Lord? No, of course not. He is still Lord. Jesus Christ being Lord does not somehow depend on us. God forbid, but even if all humanity refused to confess that Jesus is Lord, he would still be Lord. Why? Jesus Christ is not only Lord of those who confess that he is, but Jesus Christ is Lord over all creation.      

So, when we say that Jesus is Lord, we mean that in two senses. On the one hand, we mean that he is the Lord of our redemption. That’s one way to put it: Jesus Christ is the Lord of redemption. On the other hand, when we say that Jesus is Lord, we also mean he is the Lord over everything. Not only is he the Lord of redemption, but Jesus Christ is the Lord of creation. So, Jesus Christ is both Lord of redemption and Lord of creation. We’ll come back to that, but first our two passages.

I paired these two passages together because they give us a nice contrast. In Jeremiah, we see how disastrous things can get when the lords and kings of this world rule in a way that is not according to God’s design. So, in Jeremiah we see the negative picture. And then in our Colossians passage we see the contrast, the positive picture of how God’s design is being fulfilled. And what is God’s design? In short, that Jesus Christ is and will be King and Lord over all. So, let’s start with Jeremiah.

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord.” Whenever we see that word, “Woe” we know things are not good. And, in Jeremiah’s day, things were not good. God had sent the prophets to guide the kings of Judah. But few, if any, of them listened. And so, the end result was that the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, and they took the people captive, back to Babylon. Not good. “Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So, I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord.” Here we see that God holds those who are in positions of power and leadership responsible. Because the kings (or the “shepherds”) did not attend to the sheep, God will attend to them.

Very often in antiquity, kings were referred to as “shepherds.” So, think about the shepherd’s job. The shepherd’s job was to feed the sheep, protect the sheep, and guide the sheep. If one of the sheep strayed, the shepherd would go looking for that one lost sheep. In general, the shepherd did whatever was in the best interests of the sheep. And so too, kings were to look after the best interests of the people. But, that’s not what was happening. So, what were they doing?

In this text, Jeremiah doesn’t tell us exactly where things went wrong. But, another prophet from that same period, Ezekiel, does tell us. Ezekiel 34:1-4, and notice again how he also refers to them as "shepherds." "Thus says the Lord God: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?...You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them." That’s quite an indictment. The kings were ruling to benefit themselves, and not the people.

So, back to Jeremiah, God says, “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock…I will bring them back…I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing.” So, God is going to provide for the sheep, for the people. God will raise up some shepherds who will do what they’re supposed to. But more than that, “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land…he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.” As is often the case, the prophet who brings a word of judgment also brings a word of hope. Here we have the promise of a coming King. And, of course, we know that King to be none other than Jesus Christ.

It is no mistake that in the New Testament we learn that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd who, unlike the shepherds of this world can sometimes be, he cares for the sheep, he searches for the sheep, he loves the sheep, and he gives his life for the sheep. This brings us to our Colossians passage, in which we see the fulfillment of the promise given in Jeremiah.

Our passage begins as a thanksgiving to God. And notice what we are thanking God for: 1) enabling us to share in the inheritance of life, 2) rescuing us from the powers of darkness, and 3) transferring us into the Kingdom of the Son. We thank God for enabling us, rescuing us, and transferring us. Notice how it is God who enables, who rescues, who transfers. In Jeremiah, God says, “I will gather, I will bring back, I will raise up.” In Colossians, we see the fulfillment of those promises. It is God who acts on our behalf. This is grace and it is all done for us through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now, let’s go back to where we started. You’ll remember we started out by saying that Jesus Christ is Lord in two ways: 1) He is Lord of creation, and 2) He is Lord of redemption. The rest of our passage in Colossians is exactly divided between those two ways in which Jesus is Lord. In vss. 15-17 he is the Lord of creation, and in vss. 18-20 he is the Lord of redemption.

So, vss. 15-17, Christ is the Lord of creation: “He is the image of the invisible God…for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him….” Two things here. First, Christ is the image of the invisible God. Jesus said, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father." If we want to know what God is like, look to Christ. He is the image of the invisible God. 

Second, we are told that all things are created through him and for him. The idea is this: whatever powers there are on earth, they are ultimately going to be subjected to him, whether they be thrones or dominions or rulers or powers. All of it will eventually come under the reign of Christ. As Christians, we are already beginning to live under his reign. We’re not waiting until we have no choice. We want to live under his reign now, because we know that he loves us and that his way leads to life. But, since he is Lord over all creation, all creation will eventually be conformed to his will. So, Jesus Christ is Lord of creation. But he is also the Lord of our redemption.

Vss. 18-20: “He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead…through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.”  Notice why Jesus is the Lord of redemption, i.e. because he is “firstborn from the dead.” In other words, because he broke through the grip of death, overcoming it with life, he is the Lord of our redemption. In other words, our Lord was the first to be raised.

So, let me close with this one thought. This passage paints this beautiful picture of Jesus Christ as Lord over everything. In him and for him all things were created. He came into this world and conquered death and destruction with his love and life, proving he is Lord over all. It’s this grand picture of God’s amazing love at work. But notice what is right in the middle of this beautiful picture. Right in the middle is the church.

Notice again what it says: "All things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together." In other words, he is the Lord of creation. Then we have this statement: "He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything." In other words, he is the Lord of redemption. But right in between those two statements we find: "He is the head of the body, the church."

Right in the middle of telling us he is both Lord of redemption and Lord of creation we find the church. What is the significance of that? Well, one thing it tells us is that the church has a privileged place in the work that God is accomplishing through Jesus Christ. As the church proclaims God’s salvation through Christ and lives according to the way of its Lord, the church images right here and now the kingdom that will one day be. We, my friends, communicate God’s kingdom to the world through word and deed. What a wonderful truth! And yet, with great grace comes great responsibility. And so, mindful of this great responsibility, we go before our Lord and ask: Lord, help us to be the church You have called us to be. To the glory of God, Amen.